Study Break
by izzylane
Summary: Leonard said he was coming over and she had distractedly agreed, too caught up in the anatomy of Andorians to really care who she was talking to or what they were saying.


**Study Break**

McCoy/Chapel, at the academy

* * *

She programmed her door to unlock and turned to look in the mirror. Leonard said he was coming over and she had distractedly agreed, too caught up in the anatomy of Andorians to really care who she was talking to or what they were saying.

But looking in the mirror, she could tell that she probably needed a break, although she wasn't sure if she had time. Her hair was in a messy ponytail on top of her head, chunks of it falling down her back. She was wearing red Starfleet sweatpants that probably should have been washed before she threw them on this morning, a fluffy pink robe with even fluffier sheep on it to keep warm, and a tank top that used to be white but was now more off-white. She ran her tongue over her teeth and grimaced at the gummy feeling of them from the large amounts of coffee she had ingested in the past twelve hours.

In a panic now, she dove for her communicator and breathed a sigh of relief when he answered right away.

"Where are you?"

"Two minutes from your apartment. Why?" he asked suspiciously.

"Um, well, I've been studying all day and—"

"I know. That's why we agreed you needed a break."

"We did?" This was news to her. She must have said yes to this when she was learning the right hyposprays to inject the muscles of Andorians who showed signs of shingles. Damn him. He always made her agree to things when she was distracted. That had been the way he had wheedled a date out of her after only two Xenobiology classes together, and sex after only two dates. He was fucking _sneaky_.

"I am entering your building now. What's the code again?"

"H24987," she said automatically. Wait, _shit_. He was almost here! "I'll see you a minute," she blurted out and cut off the connection. Christine ran into the tiny tiny bathroom and grabbed her toothbrush. At least her breath won't smell, right? She finished that chore and wasted precious moments checking out the shine of her teeth before realizing she was still wearing the fluffy pink robe. She threw it off of her shoulders and stuffed it in her closet, closing the door with a bang. Then she put on deodorant and a squirt of perfume and called it good.

She didn't look in the mirror when the door chimed. He would have to take her as is or not at all.

Opening the door, the first thing she saw was a huge sack. Smelling the sharp, greasy scent of her favorite take-out, she pulled him into her apartment, ignoring his grunt of surprise.

"What did you get me?" she asked, grabbing the sack from his hands and putting it on the kitchen table only to dig though it greedily.

"Dammit, Chris. I don't even get a kiss?"

"Stomach first. Then sex," she said, pulling out a huge hamburger dripping in sauce, and—oh God—onion rings. "You are so good to me, you know that?"

"I know," he agreed, appearing amused by her gluttony. "I guess I will just sit on down over here and watch you eat."

She paused in her focus, chewing and swallowing quickly to get her words out. "You've already eaten?"

"Yeah. I had dinner with Pike and Jim. What a pair." He shook his head. "I am so glad I am not on the command track—the pressure is unbelievable—even on mere cadets." He patted the couch. "Come on, sit next to me and eat. I promise I won't bite. Yet."

"Nghirty," she mumbled around a mouthful of meat and cheese.

"You're dirty? Well…that's convenient. I know a fix for that. It's called a _shower_." He whispered the last word and pointed to the bathroom door, smirking when she glared at him.

Christine picked up her food and walked over to the couch, setting it down on the shaky wood-substitute coffee table only long enough to punch him in the arm. "I know that, dumbass. I need one—was actually in a panic when I called you—I look a sight." He took this in stride, leaning over her mound of fast food to sniff at her neck.

"You don't smell bad. I mean, if you look awful, at least you smell like a girl." He leaned over more so that he could kiss her, holding the back of her neck in one hand so that she couldn't move and had to take it. She attempted to be indignant at his mocking of her appearance, but that only lasted as long as his mouth moving down from kissing her to her neck, sucking a bruise there that she knew she would have to cover tomorrow.

Her pulse skittered. "Dammit McCoy—let me eat! I said sex after food." He moved back to his side of the couch and looked satisfied at her glassy eyes, stealing an onion ring while she was distracted. "Hey!"

He just sat back, chewing his onion ring slowly and staring at her before he noticed the open PADD on the coffee table. Picking it up, he started scrolling through her notes. "Andorian biology? Why didn't you tell me that's what you were studying? I could have helped you. Hell, I am almost an expert."

"We're in the same class, McCoy," she answered dryly.

"I know, but I have a history with Andorians—and this is a refresher class for me. Studied many many diseases that originated on their planet before joining Starfleet." He shuddered, put her notes back on the table, and stole another onion ring, laying his head back on the couch with a sigh. "Fucking. Long. Day."

Christine polished off the last of her hamburger and crumpled up the papers on the table to throw away later. She was sure she would care later that her PADD was covered in greasy take-out wrappers, but right now she couldn't give a damn. She rested her head on his chest and breathed in the scent of much finer food that her hamburger and silently thanked him for stopping to get her what she loved—no scallops in cream sauce for her, thank you very much.

"We should take a shower," she murmured, tucking her arm under his and getting comfortable.

"Ngghh?" he answered.

"Or not," she amended, as always amused by how easily he could drop into sleep-a trait most doctors seemed to have-not that she made a habit of sleeping with doctors. She got up quickly and grabbed a blanket and a pillow, dimming the lights in the room to a comfortable setting where she could see her PADD, but he could sleep. She tucked a pillow under his head and sat next to him, covering them both in the large thermal blanket.

"Thanks for dinner," she whispered, and then curled up next to him, reading more about Andorians. He was right—they had some damn awful diseases.


End file.
